Eh... it depends.....
If I've known them for many years, I've video-called them so I see they're real and not being a catfish, and I've gotten to know them pretty well, then yes, I'd trust them. I wouldn't trust them completely, but I still would trust them a bit.
Friends are friends, and even irl, they can still betray you. I've had online and irl friends stab me in the back repeatedly and just be real nasty, so it's a give or take thing. I guess for someone to gain my trust they have to: not stab me in the back or betray me, be decent or fair, and know me for a long time.
Well, considering my bestest friend in the entire world is online...
I see them no different from people I know irl. Not everyone is trustworthy, no matter where you go. However, you can't just assume that everyone isn't trust worthy. They just have to prove themselves and it isn't like you give all your personal info.
Like, Umeiko is my bestest friend in the world. I love her to pieces. Hell, we even sent each other christmas presents last year. I trust her with my life LOL
That, and we're going to a convention together in June so we can meet in person <3
My closest online friends, I've known for like 4/5 years now. And I trust them. We have each other on Facebook, send each other Snapchats, video call sometimes, we usually play videogames together and call and talk and it's really great. I like having online friends, I've found it's easier to meet people who like the same things as I do online. I'm actually going to meet one of them in April with any luck and I'm so excited. We've met 3 times before and honestly it's just the best feeling ever being able to spend time with her.
But what I dislike about online friendships is the lack of physical interaction. Like, not being able to meet up irl very often (even though they all live in the UK, and at least a few hours drive away from me), it's just a bit of a bummer really. That's what I like about my friendships irl, because we get to meet up and hang out a lot more often. Me and my irl friends don't often message each other consistently through text or Facebook, but it's nice because when we meet up irl we can just talk for hours about random stuff. it's nice.
My closest internet friends I met all the way back in 2008, rip. So I trust them on the same level as I trust my irl friends. I even got with one of them and moved countries (so now I live with two people who used to be online friends heh).
I don't know, I've had more irl friends lie to me than internet friends, in the end I distrust new people equally, doesn't matter if they're irl or online.
I don't stick around with online friends much. Once I get to the point of knowing people really well I just can't be bothered to keep going because there's not much else to talk about ya know. There's only so much you can do with online friends.
I'm pretty flexible with what I tell online friends. I'm usually pretty open but it just depends.
